Hood for motor-vehicles.



W. P. MAYS.

HOOD FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 18, 1908.

Patented May 31, 1910.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

HOOD FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Patented May 31, 1910.

Application filed July 18, 1908. Serial No. 444,269.

To all whom it may concern:

l;3e it known that I, VVILsoN Pi. Mars, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Portland, in the county of Multnomah and Stateof Oregon, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Hoods for Motor-Vehicles, of which the following veniently operable, at will, for promoting rapid circulation of air through the housing mcloslng the motors, for the purpose of more efiiciently cooling the latter under certain conditions. The motors are inclosed by housingl to keep out dust, and one of the most e cient means for ventilating the motor housing, obviously, consists in providing the roof of the housing with'suflicient o enings for the escape of the heated air. This arrangement has, however, the objection that when the automobile is run at a considerable speed the currents of air em'i't-' ted through said roof-openings would be directed against the faces of the occupants of the car and be very ofl'ensive. For this reason, prior: efiorts have been made to render the o en ings in the roof of the housing contIOllHYJlB, but the means provided to this end, in my judgment, were impractical. The fact is, that it is only desirable to open the roof of the motor housing, so as to promote rapid circulation of air, when the car is-running on an up-grade; for then the motion of the car is not fast, but a greater strain is imposed upon the motors, causing them to evolve a greater degree of heat'than when running on the level; and, of course, if such excessive heat is not dispersed, the motors become-overheated, and as a result the life of the machine is shortened. Therefore, to

obtain my object, I provide in the roof of the motor-housing a series of openings, each having an adjustable closure operable by a lever, or like device, placed within the reach of the chaufieur; and thus the instant the car starts to travel on an up-grade the roof-apertures may be thrown wide open, and as soon as the top of the grade has been reached, the same may be immediately closed a ain. To this end my inyention embodies t e arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and illustrated in the drawings above referred to.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile with my invention installed as in practice; Fi 2 is a top view of the motor-housing, showing the roof thereof provided with a series of air apertures, controllable by pivoted plates operable as a unit; this View being drawn on a larger scale than Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional-detail of the motor-housing, this detail being shown on a still larger scale than Fig. 2, and illustrates, in particular, the means provided for moving the closureplates as a unit; Fi 4 is a plan detail of the mechanism for a justing the closures of the apertures in the roof of the housing; Fig. 5 is a detail, in pers ect-ive, showing a portion of the roof of t e motor-housing, the type of housing shown being of the kind in which the roof is composed of two halfsections hinged on a longitudinal axis, so as to permit each half-section to be lifted to permit access to the .motors; and this detail shows some of the devices entering into the combination of my invention; and Fig. 6 1s a a partial view of the roof of the motor-housing, drawn on a scale approximately agreeing with that of Fig. 2, butv illustrates closing means consisting of an apertured slide longitudinally movable under the roof by means substantially the same as rovided for moving the pivoted closures il ustrated in the foregoing figures.

The letters designate the parts described.

The body, a, of the automobile may be of anytype. The roof of the housing, 6, containing the motors or engine, is provided Y with a plurality of rectangular apertures c. e

As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, the roof of the hood comprises two half-sections 6', b hinged on a longitudinal axis so as to permit either half-section to be raised on its hinge, for the purpose of giving access to the motor mechanism within the housing. In each of the apertures, c, is pivoted, on a transverse axis, a plate. The pivoting of the plates at may be accomplished by providing the roof of the housing and the plates d with registering ears 6, in which are inserted hinge-pins, as shown. To the under side of the lutes d are fastened lugs f, suitably shaped: as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 5,

:so as to render it convenient to connect therewith longitudinal rods 9, g. That is to say, the entire series of pivoted plates d mit the connected parts to operate as described.

The left ends of the link-members Ii, h are provided with eyes 7' and to the latter are connected the eyes 7' of the link-mem hers k, is. Thus the joint so obtained between the extremities of the link-members h, h and is, k is in the nature of a universal joint. The links-members is, k are connected at their left endsto a lever l, operating over a quadrant m; the'parts being arranged to permit the adjustment of the lever Z on the quadrant to set the closure-plates d in Such wise as to partially or fully open the apertures c. or entirely close the same," as required.

-My preferredarrangement of the apertures c and of the plates d therein pivoted on a transverse axis, is shown in Fig. 5.

- That is to say, the hinged lugs e and the '100f without disconnectin having first .to adjust any of the parts.

plates d are adapted to allow the latter, when closed, to become so arranged as to make a flush up er surfaceon the roof of the housing. '1 's particular construction, however, is of course not an indispensable feature of my invention. An I convenlent arrangement of the parts, eificient for the purpose intended, will answer as well. But since the roof of the motor-housing 1s pref-. erablymade in two half-sections as de scribed, themeans controlling the air a ertures 0 must be contrived to permit the ifting of eitheriihalf-section of t "hous1n gor otherwise In the modified type of my invention, illustrated in Fig. 6, the pivoting plates 0! are omitted, and in, place thereof I use a. slidefgi having apertures n adapted to register th the apertures in the housmg-top o, I e slide n is moved into registering position. The mechanical features of this modification are .self explanatory. The housing-top 0 is provided with guides (not shown) for ilthe slide a to slide in. slides aref connected in an convenien man nenf -with-"rods g ofsim ar. urpose as the rods .g,*andj'lml-members one of which, 12., is shown) are usedtoeonnwt the bars g.with'} devices like the quadrant and lever l, m, showh'ffingthe receding figures, as means' for jadju'sting t e slides a, to control the taper-fairiesin the roof of the housingfo,

required. I

gree o having The .7

It will be remembered that the construc-.

tion of the housing for the motors of the automobile is such as toprovide an opening in the front end and bottom of the housing for cooling drafts to enter, (said drafts being indicated in Fig. 1 by arrows).

When the motors of the automobile in i ventilating apertures in the roof of the housing of the motors will be closed, so as to pre vent the oiiensive odors from continuously being thrown against the faces of the occupants of the car; but as soon as thecar is running on an upgrade, or the motors are required to do any unusual amount of work,

causing the development of an excessive deapertures in the roof of the motor-housing are thrown open to cause the cool air currents, entering through the front and the bottom of the motor-housing, to continuously disperse the heated air through said roofapertures. It is, therefore, apparent that in order to accomplish the pur ose of my invention, it isnot only required t at the roof of the housing confining the motors lie made with sufiicient apertures to allow the escape of the excessively heated air, but that there be also provided means for controlling said air apertures, substantially as above described.

- I claim:

e 1. The combination of a motor-housing having aroof consisting of two half-sections hinged on a longitudinal axis, each section provided with a series of longitudinally alined apertures, movable closure-plates arheat, the closures of the ventilating connecting rods of the closure-plates adapted to operate the latter as a unit.

' .2. The combination of a motor-housing a roof consisting of two half-sections hinge on a longitudinal axis, each section provided with a series of longitudinally alined apertures, a closure-plate rotatably hinged on a transverse axis in each a erture controlling the latter, a pair of r0 s, and connections fastening said closure platw thereto, a quadrant and lever, and connections of the universal-joint principle be-- tween said lever and the connecting rods of the closure-plates adapted to operate the latter as a unit.

3. The combination of'a motor-housing havigg a roof consisting of two half-sections hing on a longitudinal axis, each section provided with a series of longitudinally alined apertures,- a closure-plate rotatably hinged on a transverse axis in each a erture controlling the latter, a rod arrange under each half-section of the housing-roof, lugs smart on the underside of the rotatable closureplates by which the latter are pivotally connected with said rods, a quadrant and lever, and connections of the universal-joint principle between said lever and the connecting rods of the closure-plates adapted to operate the latter as a unit.

4. The combination of a motor-housing having a roof consisting of two half-sections hinged on a longitudinal axis, each section provided with a series of longitudinally alined apertures, a closure-plate rotatably hinged on a transverse axis in each aperture, controlling the latter, a rod arranged under each half-section of the housing-roof, lugs on the underside of the rotatable closureplates by which the latter are pivotally connected with said rods, a quadrant and lever, and a pair of links connecting the inner ends of said rods, respectively, with said lever, said links comprising jointedly connected members, the inner ends of said rods being 1 bent at an angle, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a motor-housing having a roof consisting of two halt-sections hinged on a longitudinal axis, each section provided with a series of longitudinally alined apertures, a closure-plate rotatably hinged on a transverse axis in each aperture, controlling the latter, and adapted, when closed, to be arranged flush with the top of said housing-roof, a rod arranged under each half-section of the housing-roof, lugs on the underside of the rotatable closureplates by which the latter are pivotally connected with said rods, a quadrant and lever, and a pair of links connecting the inner ends of said rods, respectively, with said lever, said links comprising jointedl connected members, the inner ends of sai rods bein bent at an angle, substantially as describe 6. The combination of a motor-housing having a 1 uOf consisting of two half-sections hinged on a longitudinal axis, each section provided with a series of longitudinally alined apertures, a closure-plate rotatably hinged on a transverse axis in each aperture, controlling the latter, and adapted, when closed, to be arranged flush with the top of said housing-roof, a rod arranged under each half-section of the housing-roof, a quadrant and lever, and connections of the universal-joint principle between said lever and the connecting rods of the closure-plates adapted to operate the latter as a unit.

WILSON P. MAYS.

Witnesses:

CEoIL LONG, 'l. J. GEISLER. 

